Wistfully writing that Soros's Open Society Foundations (OSF) once 'epitomised the optimism about the spread of Western-style democracy' after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Financial Timesdescribed the scrutiny the global progressive body is experiencing amidst a wave of patriotism and populism and the 'wilting' attraction of the leftist agenda.

Soros, alluding to the collapse of the USSR, told the left-liberal newspaper: "It's déjà vu all over again with one big change — the dominant ideology in the world now is nationalism… It's the EU that's the institution that's on the verge of a breakdown.

"And Russia is now the resurgent power, based on nationalism," Soros said.

The open borders financier blames Russian hackers for attacks against him in 2016, and the country's government blacklisted the OSF in 2015 for allegedly "endangering Russia's constitutional system and national security".